Voldemort's Freind: The Worst Choice
by Gold.Digger
Summary: Tom Riddle has just arrived at Hogwarts and hs met a girl named Artemis. He has a soft spot for her, but will she agree to be his freind? Or will she turn away from him because of his evil actions?
1. Chapter 1

_A.N.: Well, this is my first fan-fiction that I have ever written, or posted out on this site. Forgive me if I mess up a whole page by posting the authors note in the front, or by making one of the most hated characters in Harry Potter the main character. Or maybe, I'll write some thing that doesn't suit you very well. Hmm... What can I say? I'm a noobie. (Plus, I haven't read all the books, so forgive me if I write something entirely untrue.) But, if my **mom** liked it, then you certainly will._

_Enjoy!_

As the Hogwarts Express neared King's Cross Station, a girl picked up her bag and stared as the massive locomotive came to a stop. Her blonde hair flew wildly as a sudden gust of wind hit her; she flipped it back after it had calmed. Climbing aboard, she was surprised to find most of the compartments full. Sighing deeply, she walked down the the narrow corridor while glancing through the compartment windows. She stopped as she found one that was empty. At least she thought it was, but when she walked in, she realized that there was a boy sitting near the window. She decided to throw her bag onto the rack and sit down on the velvet cushion across from him. He glared at her.

" Leave now. I would like to be alone." he spat, as though he expected her to do so. She smirked at him.

" May I remind you that there are no other empty compartments. I'd also like to mention that I'm not very talkative, especially after someone talks so rudely with me." She retorted, glaring back at him.

When his gray eyes met her blue ones, he blinked with surprise. Was he actually intimidated? By a girl? They stared at each other for a moment, and for a split second he thought he saw her blushing. But as soon as he was about to say something, the train started, and the girl became preoccupied with catching her quite pinguid bag. She put it back on the rack, and then sat back down and stared out the fogged-up window.

After a long fifteen minutes of silence, the strange boy brushed his black hair away, and asked, "So… What's your name?" He looked at her with sudden interest.

"Artemis Becklaire." She answered, staring back at him. "And yours?"

"Tom Riddle…" He spat, frowning. She giggled.

"You appear to hate that name. Why?"

"So many people are named Tom. I want a unique name like yours… To be _special_."

"Why don't you change it?"

"I can?"

"Why, yes. My brother's name was Murphy, and he changed it to Aries."

Tom was suddenly very excited. "What do you think it should be?"

"I'm not sure. I'll try and think up one for you, how about that?" she said, smiling.

"Please. I'm not very fond of making up names for people… I'm better at scaring people and making them do things for me." He said, smiling evilly.

Artemis cocked her eyebrow. Something about Tom was very unnerving. Maybe it was his eyes… Or how he seemed… evil. She could see that he was trying to hide it but… He _was_ evil.

Absorbed in her own thoughts, Artemis barely felt Tom tapping her shoulder. "We're here." He said as he opened the compartment door. Grabbing her bag, which had once again fallen off the rack, she followed him out of the train. Stepping out onto the platform, she saw a huge, black lake before her. Tom stood with a blank expression. "Who are they?" He said his voice shaking.

She looked at where he was pointing. There were about a dozen merfolk in the water, staring back with their slit-like eyes. "Merfolk." She said, trying to calm him. "They hardly ever come out of the water."

He nodded slowly, and looked away.

"Children! Over here!" said a loud voice. The two of them looked to their left to see a tall man, with a short gray beard and black hair. Some of the girls giggled, whispering about how handsome he was. "May I have your attention, please? Ahem. My name is Professor Dippet, head master of Hogwarts. Now, if you would please board these boats, and we will be off!" he said excitedly, straightening his jacket and smiling broadly.

Tom and Artemis picked the very first one, and ended up sitting next to Professor Dippet. After all the other students boarded the boats, they floated off, pushed by a mysterious force. "Is this magic Professor?" asked Artemis.

"Yes, indeed it is. We use it for almost everything here at Hogwarts. _Almost_." He answered, nodding. Artemis smiled back, wondering what they used magic for.

When they were half-way across the lake, Tom felt a tug on his robe. He whipped his head around, but he didn't he anything that could have caused it. "What's wrong?" Artemis asked, staring at him.

"N-n-nothing… just my imagination." He said quickly, trying to mask his fear.

"Ok….." she said as she slowly looked away.

That's when Tom felt a sharp jerk. He yelped as he realized that he was being pulled off the boat and into the black water. He closed his eyes, hoping that someone would grab his arm to stop his fall, but no one did. He feltthe biteof cold across his skin, his robes becoming heavier, and a hand on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to scream, but he only managed to get a mouthfull of salty lake water. He opened his eyes, and saw reeds, millions of them, surrounding him. He felt something wrap around his ankle, but he was to scared to look down. Once again he closed his eyes.

And then, he passed out.

_A.N.2: Please review! I love to hear what people think about my stories!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A.N.: No reviews! . Sad... Well, here's the next chapter!_

_Enjoy!_

Artemis sat frozen in terror as Tom fell. She felt like her heart was torn out. Slipping out of the upper part of her robe, she closed her eyes and dived into the murky water despite Professor Dippet's yells. When she felt her skin tingle with goose bumps, she opened her eyes.

She stared in horror at the scene she was witnessing. The merfolk they had seen earlier were carrying him off to an unknown location. _I have to get down there!_ she thought, swimming back to the surface to get some air. Dippet was still shouting when she surfaced, his face red with rage. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? GET BACK HERE!" he roared, not doubting that she would come back.

Artemis ignored him and dived back down. Swimming quickly but silently among the reeds, she followed the merfolk's path. She began to hear a voice, wailing in a strange language, and she followed it. She resurfaced about three times before she even saw a hint of Tom.

The merfolk were floating in front of a kraken, whose black eyes gleamed with hunger. Its tentacles reached out towards the group, and the elder merman extended his arms to give Tom as an offering. Suddenly, Artemis remembered that she had her wand in her hand. Extending her arm, she shouted a spell she had heard her father use when she was little. "SECTUMSEMPRA!" The word echoed through the water.

The kraken squirmed. Suddenly all the blood in the monster gushed out. It gushed until the monster went limp. _I killed it._ The word rang loud and clear in her head. _I KILLED IT._

The merfolk turned towards her. She was afraid that they were going to attack her, but they just stared. As she swam forwards a bit, they turned and fled.

When Artemis reached Tom's body, she noticed that he had gills and webbed hands. He was breathing. _Why did they want him alive when they were going to sacrifice him to the kraken? _She questioned herself. She shook her head. She was going to have to think this over when they were at the school.

She swam to the surface, dragging him behind her. Spying the boats, still floating there waiting for her, she started half-breast stroked towards them. Dippet, being as tall as he was, spied her and directed his boat over to her. "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, MISS! THAT'S AGAINST THE SCHOOL RULES! YOU---" His face turned from purple to pale. "Merlin, is that the boy who was with you?" he said, staring in wonder. He pulled her up onto the boat, and let her hold Tom's hand so that he wouldn't sink underwater as Dippet maneuvered the boat back to the group.

"Yes, his name's Tom Riddle, sir. The merfolk were about to give him to a kraken as a sacrifice when I got there---"

"That means that the kraken will be here any minute!" He said hysterically.

"No, Professor. The kraken is dead."

"WHAT?"

"I….. killed it."

"How?" he asked staring at her, his eyes as big as saucers.

She sighed and opened her palm. Dippet stared at the wand. "You…?"

"I cast a spell."

"Where'd you hear it?" he said gently, his voice shaking with awe.

"My dad cast it once when I was five. He killed a rat that was trying to bite me." She said, watching him carefully.

Dippet closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. "We'll talk about this later. First we have to find Mrs. Bucklewart. We can't start the sorting without Tom, and we have to see how long the gillyweed will last. It took you about thirty minutes to find him, so…." He said as they neared the beach, "It should take another thirty minutes for the weed to wear off."

"Where will we put him, Professor?"

"Professor Dumbledore should be here any minute; he'll stay with you until I get back. Ah, here he comes now." Dippet said as a red haired man in a purple suit and moon-shaped glasses came running.

"Merlin's beard, this is the boy I told you about, Leo!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "The one from the orphanage." He said quickly after Dippet gave him a confused look.

"I'll be back in a flash. Stay with them; I'm counting on you Dumbledore!" Dippet said ignoring what the strange looking Professor had just said. Twirling his wand, the head master disappeared.

Dumbledore turned to Artemis and looked at her intently. "And you must be Artemis Becklaire. Tom's friend."

"Yes, sir."

"Could you please tell me how it all happened?" he asked gently.

She told him. She told him how Tom fell into the water, how the merfolk kidnapped him, and how she killed the squid. She even told him how the merfolk fled when she approached them.

"Let me see your wand." He said, taking it from here palm and staring at it with interest. "You must be wondering why you can cast spells underwater. Your wand is made of a magical oak's bark, mermaid skin, and centaur hair. That combination allows you to do that with out being hurt. It has very good aim too. Take good care of it."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore." She said looking at him like she had known him for years.

"You're very welcome, Artemis." He said, smiling affectionately.

_A.N.2: WHY WON'T ANYONE REVIEW? GRR... _


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